Tuesday, July 29, 2008
I get by with a little help from my friends
So help me out guys: I'm going to be on a plane and on the beach this week, and I'm fresh out of ideas of books to read. Suggestions please?
Things I overheard when talking to myself
One year ago:
I was full of excitement and fear and anticipation for college. I was devastated to lose most of my friends to other schools. The thrill of being a valedictorian, national merit scholar, and rocking my AP tests was just beginning to wear off, and I was scared for chemistry.
I didn't even know how to use a balance.
Now I can run XRDs in my sleep.
I was thinking about that yesterday, how much has changed in just one year, how much I've learned at college. At the same time though, coming back and living at home and being with all those friends I felt like I lost has shown me that things maybe haven't changed as much as I thought. We slid right back into old routines of watching "So You Think You Can Dance" and hanging out whenever we didn't have work and I don't know...it's all so easy. I missed you guys last year, I really did. I missed that feeling of being with a big group of friends who have all known each other for years and who have so many memories together. It doesn't feel like we have to do some huge activity every time we're together unlike when you meet new people and if you don't have something to do it gets awkward fast. With us it's so comfortable.
Bah. It's almost over. Can you believe it's nearly August? I'm really excited to go back to school...I just wish you were all coming with me.
You know what, I really like Garrison Keillor's writing style. I completely disagree with him politically, but I like his style.
I was full of excitement and fear and anticipation for college. I was devastated to lose most of my friends to other schools. The thrill of being a valedictorian, national merit scholar, and rocking my AP tests was just beginning to wear off, and I was scared for chemistry.
I didn't even know how to use a balance.
Now I can run XRDs in my sleep.
I was thinking about that yesterday, how much has changed in just one year, how much I've learned at college. At the same time though, coming back and living at home and being with all those friends I felt like I lost has shown me that things maybe haven't changed as much as I thought. We slid right back into old routines of watching "So You Think You Can Dance" and hanging out whenever we didn't have work and I don't know...it's all so easy. I missed you guys last year, I really did. I missed that feeling of being with a big group of friends who have all known each other for years and who have so many memories together. It doesn't feel like we have to do some huge activity every time we're together unlike when you meet new people and if you don't have something to do it gets awkward fast. With us it's so comfortable.
Bah. It's almost over. Can you believe it's nearly August? I'm really excited to go back to school...I just wish you were all coming with me.
You know what, I really like Garrison Keillor's writing style. I completely disagree with him politically, but I like his style.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHAAAAAAAAA?
I'm in the 3 couple cha-cha!!!!!
And I can't change my facebook status to reflect my excitement because I'm using it as advertisement for selling my dresses, so I have use this as an outlet!!!!
AHHHHH!!!!! I can't believe it!!!!! New team members are never in those kinds of numbers!!!!
Also, I am in: west coast, viennese waltz, pirates (I'm a pirate, not a soldier), MicGalaxy black light dance, samba (!!!!), and the latin medley. I'm so excited!!!!
Okay. I'm done now.
I'm in the 3 couple cha-cha!!!!!
And I can't change my facebook status to reflect my excitement because I'm using it as advertisement for selling my dresses, so I have use this as an outlet!!!!
AHHHHH!!!!! I can't believe it!!!!! New team members are never in those kinds of numbers!!!!
Also, I am in: west coast, viennese waltz, pirates (I'm a pirate, not a soldier), MicGalaxy black light dance, samba (!!!!), and the latin medley. I'm so excited!!!!
Okay. I'm done now.
Wake up, mud frogs, wake up!
She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her to a corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew.
It was a rebellion she led, a rebellion for rather than against. For ourselves. For the dormant mud frogs we had been for so long.
I was used to peering through the lens, to framing the picture, and I could see it. I could feel it in myself. I felt lighter, unshackled, as if something I had been carrying had fallen away. But I didn't know what to do about it. There was no direction to my liberation. I had no urge to color my hair or trash my sneakers. So I just enjoyed the feeling and watched the once amorphous student body separate itself into hundreds of individuals. The pronoun "we" itself seemed to crack and drift apart in pieces.
from the book Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
***
It was wonderful to see, wonderful to be in the middle of: we mud frogs awakening all around. We were awash in tiny attentions. Small gestures, words, empathies thought to be extinct came to life. For years the strangers among us had passed sullenly in the hallways; now we looked, we nodded, we smiled. If someone got an A, others celebrated, too. If someone sprained an ankle, others felt the pain. We discovered the color of each other's eyes.It was a rebellion she led, a rebellion for rather than against. For ourselves. For the dormant mud frogs we had been for so long.
I was used to peering through the lens, to framing the picture, and I could see it. I could feel it in myself. I felt lighter, unshackled, as if something I had been carrying had fallen away. But I didn't know what to do about it. There was no direction to my liberation. I had no urge to color my hair or trash my sneakers. So I just enjoyed the feeling and watched the once amorphous student body separate itself into hundreds of individuals. The pronoun "we" itself seemed to crack and drift apart in pieces.
from the book Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Friday, July 25, 2008
THE Cruise Post
Cruises are weird.
Every day our "stateroom attendant" would come in and clean our rooms and fold our towels into different animals. We got a monkey, an elephant, and a person sunbathing.
One night at dinner our maitre d' announces that all of our servers have a special performance for us. The song "Feeling hot, hot, hot" comes on and in parade our servers dancing with various objects on their heads (dessert plates, vases, bowls, etc). Then the macarena comes on and he invites us all to get up and dance!!!! It was really funny actually. The night after our s
ervers sang this one Italian song that supposedly everyone knows, but I don't...
Every chance they could, the cruise photographers had backdrops and things set up so they could snap our pictures and then charge us an arm and a leg to buy them. Every night was like the prom. People would be all dressed up, lined up to get their photo taken before going in to dinner.
Sometimes it felt like I was at EFY. There were all of these activities planned out every day for people to participate in and have lots of FUN!!! Also, about an hour after we boarded we had an emergency drill where we all got herded around wearing these life jackets that were probably from the 1940's and wouldn't hold up anyone if we had to abandon ship. We all lined up and headed up to the proper decks with cruise employees directing our path just like EFY.
The Windjammer where we ate breakfast, lunch, and late night pizza smelled like burnt crayons and wet rags.
One night at dinner our maitre d' announces that all of our servers have a special performance for us. The song "Feeling hot, hot, hot" comes on and in parade our servers dancing with various objects on their heads (dessert plates, vases, bowls, etc). Then the macarena comes on and he invites us all to get up and dance!!!! It was really funny actually. The night after our s
ervers sang this one Italian song that supposedly everyone knows, but I don't...Every chance they could, the cruise photographers had backdrops and things set up so they could snap our pictures and then charge us an arm and a leg to buy them. Every night was like the prom. People would be all dressed up, lined up to get their photo taken before going in to dinner.
Sometimes it felt like I was at EFY. There were all of these activities planned out every day for people to participate in and have lots of FUN!!! Also, about an hour after we boarded we had an emergency drill where we all got herded around wearing these life jackets that were probably from the 1940's and wouldn't hold up anyone if we had to abandon ship. We all lined up and headed up to the proper decks with cruise employees directing our path just like EFY.
The Windjammer where we ate breakfast, lunch, and late night pizza smelled like burnt crayons and wet rags.
Cruises are fun.
Food was constantly available. Breakfasts had every possible breakfast food item you could possibly want (and some that you definitely didn't...grits, anyone?). Dinner was like eating out at a top quality restaurant every night. Pizza was available in the Windjammer until 2 AM. Bartenders were always walking around willing to get a drink for anyone. Room service was free since we'd already paid for all of this food with our ticket.
Sure, the two pools were filled with salt water, but even that was kind of part of the fun. It was like the ocean minus creepy seaweed and sharks.
There were all of these excursio
ns you could sign up to do. I signed up to snorkel! It was the most bizarre feeling, sticking your head under water and breathing air...I had to remind myself to stop holding my breath. I saw orange geribaldi, petted (? maybe poked is a better word) a sea cucumber, and saw a bunch of other fish. I managed to avoid sea weed and other aquatic plants, thank goodness.
Our tv had a million movie channels all showing "Enchanted" and "National Treasure 2" in different languages. I watched them both in French for a while, which for me is definitely a fun activity. Also, E True Hollywood Story was on every night and Becky and I would watch it until we fell asleep. We learned all about the lives of Will Smith, Nicole Kidman, and Vanessa Williams (totally didn't know she was Miss America).
I saw dolphins. A whole entire pod of them was swimming near the ship while I was walking out on one of the decks. They were so beautiful!
Sure, the two pools were filled with salt water, but even that was kind of part of the fun. It was like the ocean minus creepy seaweed and sharks.
There were all of these excursio
ns you could sign up to do. I signed up to snorkel! It was the most bizarre feeling, sticking your head under water and breathing air...I had to remind myself to stop holding my breath. I saw orange geribaldi, petted (? maybe poked is a better word) a sea cucumber, and saw a bunch of other fish. I managed to avoid sea weed and other aquatic plants, thank goodness.Our tv had a million movie channels all showing "Enchanted" and "National Treasure 2" in different languages. I watched them both in French for a while, which for me is definitely a fun activity. Also, E True Hollywood Story was on every night and Becky and I would watch it until we fell asleep. We learned all about the lives of Will Smith, Nicole Kidman, and Vanessa Williams (totally didn't know she was Miss America).
I saw dolphins. A whole entire pod of them was swimming near the ship while I was walking out on one of the decks. They were so beautiful!
Cruises are eye-opening.
On the dining staff alone were people of almost thirty different nationalities. We had servers from Panama, India, and the Philippines. The passenger
s were equally varied. I overheard native French speakers on several occasions, much to my pleasure.
Living where I do, people don't really drink...like ever....I don't think I'd ever been around drunk people before the cruise. People drank pretty much all the time on it though. The "general store" on the ship was 5/8 alcohol, 2/8 cigarettes, and 1/8 candy. Drunk people doing karaoke...I have to admit, it's kind of entertaining.
We got to visit another country!! Going to Mexico was really interesting. We got to go shopping in all of the little stores packed with touristy items (and shirts saying the F word...not sure those are big sellers, but whatever...)and haggle with the sales people and whatnot. The best part: seeing a huge Mexican flag flying and realizing that we were definitely not in America anymore. So cool.
Anyway, cruises are pretty darn fun. I love the feeling of the boating rocking in the water. I love the gorgeous sunsets with the light reflecting off the ocean. I had a blast. :)
s were equally varied. I overheard native French speakers on several occasions, much to my pleasure.Living where I do, people don't really drink...like ever....I don't think I'd ever been around drunk people before the cruise. People drank pretty much all the time on it though. The "general store" on the ship was 5/8 alcohol, 2/8 cigarettes, and 1/8 candy. Drunk people doing karaoke...I have to admit, it's kind of entertaining.
We got to visit another country!! Going to Mexico was really interesting. We got to go shopping in all of the little stores packed with touristy items (and shirts saying the F word...not sure those are big sellers, but whatever...)and haggle with the sales people and whatnot. The best part: seeing a huge Mexican flag flying and realizing that we were definitely not in America anymore. So cool.
Anyway, cruises are pretty darn fun. I love the feeling of the boating rocking in the water. I love the gorgeous sunsets with the light reflecting off the ocean. I had a blast. :)
Thursday, July 24, 2008
I'm going back to the start.
Hmmm, what to say, what to say....here's a few unrelated thoughts (posted under an unrelated title. It's a line from a Coldplay song):
I'm going running tomorrow for the first time in weeks. I can't wait.
Do you ever just get that antsy feeling in your body where your muscles just want to be used? I get that sometimes, where I just feel like running or flinging myself around dancing. Maybe I'm just a weirdo...but I've been feeling like that a lot lately. I crave movement. I guess it comes with the territory of being a dancer.
Today I went through and did the "assignment" we got from mission prep last Sunday. We had to come up with five questions of the soul and then find answers for them in the Book of Mormon. So I came up with five questions and then starting flipping through the topical guide and sure enough, I found answers for all of them in more than one place. It was a nice reminder that if you have questions, you really can search through the scriptures and find answers. I love it. The church is true guys, the church is true. :)
I'm really annoyed with the Obama glorifying in the press. It's not helping him out at all in the polls. It's still a dead heat between him and McCain. And if he cozies up with the Europeans it's not going to make him any more popular back at home. And that was really ugly and boring syntax for this paragraph. Just think about the ideas behind the words, not the sentence structure itself...
I need to go to bed.
I'm going running tomorrow for the first time in weeks. I can't wait.
Do you ever just get that antsy feeling in your body where your muscles just want to be used? I get that sometimes, where I just feel like running or flinging myself around dancing. Maybe I'm just a weirdo...but I've been feeling like that a lot lately. I crave movement. I guess it comes with the territory of being a dancer.
Today I went through and did the "assignment" we got from mission prep last Sunday. We had to come up with five questions of the soul and then find answers for them in the Book of Mormon. So I came up with five questions and then starting flipping through the topical guide and sure enough, I found answers for all of them in more than one place. It was a nice reminder that if you have questions, you really can search through the scriptures and find answers. I love it. The church is true guys, the church is true. :)
I'm really annoyed with the Obama glorifying in the press. It's not helping him out at all in the polls. It's still a dead heat between him and McCain. And if he cozies up with the Europeans it's not going to make him any more popular back at home. And that was really ugly and boring syntax for this paragraph. Just think about the ideas behind the words, not the sentence structure itself...
I need to go to bed.
Monday, July 21, 2008
I love it when the weather matches my mood.
I'm in a really meh mood right now so I do not want to gush about my vacation.
I guess I sort of forgot about the competitive aspect of team over the summer. I really hate the feeling of trying to be better than everyone else so that you get chosen to do the comp or be in that routine or get that spot. I hate it!
Ok, so I'm overreacting, and it's the first rehearsal of the year, and there will be many more, and Embassy's not until the 28th, but still!
The email I wish I could send to my director (highly censored, you never know who reads these things):
Dear [director],
I do not understand why you put me in this medley since the choreography is obviously so awkward on me. May I also remind you that I haven't even taken a [particular dance style] technique class yet? I respectfully ask to be moved to the [other medley], which is so much more of my style and body positioning. I'm not sure how you missed that during the auditions. Maybe my height is a problem? Although I know of three girls on the other medley who are the exact same height as me. Just saying.
Thank you very much,
Me
And yes, I'm very grateful to even be on the team. I cried when I found out I made it I was so happy. I'm just not feeling the love for this medley right now! So shoot me. Meh.
I guess I sort of forgot about the competitive aspect of team over the summer. I really hate the feeling of trying to be better than everyone else so that you get chosen to do the comp or be in that routine or get that spot. I hate it!
Ok, so I'm overreacting, and it's the first rehearsal of the year, and there will be many more, and Embassy's not until the 28th, but still!
The email I wish I could send to my director (highly censored, you never know who reads these things):
Dear [director],
I do not understand why you put me in this medley since the choreography is obviously so awkward on me. May I also remind you that I haven't even taken a [particular dance style] technique class yet? I respectfully ask to be moved to the [other medley], which is so much more of my style and body positioning. I'm not sure how you missed that during the auditions. Maybe my height is a problem? Although I know of three girls on the other medley who are the exact same height as me. Just saying.
Thank you very much,
Me
And yes, I'm very grateful to even be on the team. I cried when I found out I made it I was so happy. I'm just not feeling the love for this medley right now! So shoot me. Meh.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Land Ho!
I'm back on land, but not back at home yet.
I'm at my grandma's again, waiting to eat lunch and then begin the awful drive home....we'll probably get back around midnight tonight. yuckyuckyuckyuckyuckyuck.
More on the cruise to come. It was a blast. :)
I'm at my grandma's again, waiting to eat lunch and then begin the awful drive home....we'll probably get back around midnight tonight. yuckyuckyuckyuckyuckyuck.
More on the cruise to come. It was a blast. :)
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